Chapter 40: The Holy Knight vs. Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life④
My battle with Ainika, the One Who Loathes All Life, was nothing short of a death struggle.
“───Gaaahhh!!”
Upon seeing my Arm of Light, Ainika let out a roar that shook the very air around us. From his back, countless tentacles erupted, each one more sinister than the last. They intertwined, twisted, and merged, giving birth to even darker, miasma-emitting appendages. As they tangled with one another, they formed a single mass of pure blackness, resembling a viscous tar. Yet, the transformation didn’t stop there───
“How about it, Holy Knight?”
It seemed he had taken inspiration from me, as ten Arms of Darkness sprouted from Ainika’s back.
With overwhelming speed, he swung all twelve of his arms at me, intent on delivering my end. I met his assault with my dual swords and fists, countering with a series of Autobahn maneuvers to evade Ainika’s attacks───
“Is that all you’ve got? You won’t take me down with that!!”
My four arms clashed against his twelve. The relentless strikes from Ainika’s ten Arms of Darkness were like a snake, persistently attacking, regenerating in an instant no matter how many I destroyed. Even if we were evenly matched now, this stalemate would only lead to my slow demise. The balance began to tip─── but what of it?
“I refuse to lose!!”
I summoned additional arms with Light Magic, adding five, six, seven, eight, and nine more,
“Is this enough for you?!”
And then,
“If it’s not enough, then I’ll just make more!!”
I manifested ten, eleven, twelve, and thirteen arms.
“You like a rush, right? Here it comes!!”
Now, I had more than a dozen arms─── I unleashed a flurry of rapid punches. The clash of Darkness and Light reverberated through the air, shaking the atmosphere with a cacophony of bangs and crashes. In the midst of this rush, I seized the opportunity, my dual swords, enhanced by Hyper Acceleration, deflected Ainika’s blade and sliced through his flesh.
“Unlike you, I have to give it my all!”
As Ainika took a moment to recover, I quickly downed a Potion.
The situation remained tense and balanced. However, within a few hours, my supply of Potions ran dry.
With no means to heal, the wounds I would inevitably sustain from continuing this battle would only accumulate, never to heal. My body would soon begin to falter, and my combat performance would decline. This was a downward spiral. At the end of it lay certain death.
So then─── what was the right course of action───
As I pondered, something terrifying crossed my mind once more───
I lost track of how much time had passed.
A jagged greatsword carved deeply into my right shoulder, taking a large chunk of flesh with it. My nerves screamed in protest, and I could no longer lift my arm. To prevent any hindrance in my movements, I covered the wound with particles of light. I created a pseudo-body part from these particles to mimic the function of my flesh.
Ainika set his sights on my dual swords, the Grams. Unbeknownst to me, I had fallen right into his trap.
The crossed Grams clashed against Ainika’s jagged greatsword in a fierce lock. This was precisely the situation he had desired. His Arms of Darkness slipped through the gaps in my Light Arms and struck my swords with tremendous force. I was forced to release my grip on the Grams.
Ainika was not the type to let such an opportunity slip away. Instead of using his greatsword, he unleashed a swift strike from his left hand aimed directly at my abdomen. I barely managed to dodge, but not completely; his attack gouged deeply into my side.
I pressed my hand against the wound, which would normally be fatal, and applied the pseudo-body part created with Light Magic.
After a brief stalemate, the tips of Ainika’s many Arms of Darkness transformed into sharp blades. An onslaught of thrusts began, and I attempted to block them with my eleven Light Arms, but it was a poor choice. The Light Arms were severed with ease. I tried to create distance to recover, but the dark arms were incredibly sharp, and I couldn’t evade the final blow, losing my right ear in the process.
Blood gushed forth, but since it was just the outer ear, I deemed my hearing intact and merely covered the wound with light particles.
Without waiting for me to recover, Ainika, with a triumphant expression, launched ten sharp arms at me once more. This time, however, I was ready.
I equipped my eleven Light Arms with the Legendary weapons I had accumulated and countered, crushing his attack to dust.
Ainika’s sword felt heavier in my hands. After exchanging several blows, I failed to deflect one of his strikes, and my right pinky and ring fingers were sliced off. It was a serious injury. Realizing it would hinder my combat, I quickly created pseudo-pinky and ring fingers with Light Magic and applied them to the severed area while dodging Ainika’s attacks.
Noticing my injury, Ainika hesitated, a look of overconfidence on his face. I seized the moment and struck with my dual Grams─── Hyper Acceleration─── and cleaved his body into four pieces.
“What are you standing there for, looking like a fool?”
My accelerated kick collided with Ainika’s kick, resulting in a mutual strike. My right ankle shattered and flew off as a result of the impact. With a sigh, I created a new foot with Light Magic─── without missing a beat, I pivoted on my freshly restored foot and delivered a powerful lever punch infused with Light Magic.
“Ugh, guooh!”
Well, well, it seems even a Corpse Person feels the effects of a liver strike. I followed up with a relentless barrage, pummeling him until he was a mess.
Chun chun chun chun───
The barrage of Dark Magic began. I countered with Rain, resulting in a direct clash of Light and Dark Magic.
“Guu…… OOOOOOOOOO!!”
The agonized roar belonged to Ainika. Could I push through─── I unleashed a number of Rain spells, exceeding the countless black orbs Ainika had launched, and further dove in for a decisive strike─── embedding a Condenser within him, causing a massive explosion.
In the midst of the barrage, one of Ainika’s attacks managed to pierce through and create a large hole in my right thigh. I quickly pressed my hand against the wound, using Light Magic to seal and cover it.
“Laugh, will you?”
Ainika’s ten Arms of Darkness twisted and writhed. It was a complete ambush. From those contorted arms, countless black needles were launched. I was slow to react, and while I managed to deflect some, I couldn’t evade them all; one struck my left eye.
With no choice, I pressed my hand against the wound, using Light Magic to heal it, and hurled my Grams with all my might using my accelerated arm.
The Grams pierced Ainika’s head, and he let out a bizarre cry.
“Buuuh!!”
His massive form was pinned against the wall behind him─── but before that, I had already leaped and plunged another Gram into him.
“Die already!”
I poured a massive amount of Light Magic into Ainika, causing him to explode.
My left leg felt strange. It had been severed by Ainika earlier and subsequently obliterated. Thus, the left leg I now stood on was formed from Light Magic.
Though it felt oddly light and unfamiliar, I firmly planted it on the ground and charged at Ainika once more, delivering another kick. Ainika, undeterred, retaliated with a kick of his own, and once again, our kicks clashed.
Last time, it ended in a draw, but this time, I emerged victorious. I completely shattered him. However, I had no intention of stopping there.
I swiftly dropped into a low stance and tore off one of Ainika’s flailing legs, tossing it aside. His massive body sank under the pull of gravity. Using that momentum, I seized his arm and twisted it with all my strength, then casually threw it away.
He faltered. Seizing the opportunity, I unleashed a barrage of strikes with my thirteen arms, incinerating him with the Condenser.
○○○
Despite having wreaked havoc without restraint, Ainika suddenly changed his expression and began to retreat. It was so absurd that I couldn’t help but taunt him.
“You were just laughing smugly a moment ago, weren’t you? Go on, show me that smile again.”